An employee of RTE, who fell and injured his elbow while trying to unsnag a curtain during a show rehearsal for The Saturday Night Show, has been awarded 18,500 Euros in fall at work compensation at the Circuit Civil Court.
Arthur McMullan (59) of Goatstown, Dublin, was working for the national broadcaster as a props assistant when the accident occurred in the RTE Donnybrook studios in February 2010. Trying to unsnag the stage curtain from a mirror ball, Arthur fell over a studio floor lamp and injured his left elbow.
In his claim for fall at work compensation, Arthur alleged that RTE were aware of the curtain consistently presenting a problem and, in support of his claim, the court was shown a video clip of a broadcast show in which presenter Brendan O´Connor had to hold back the curtains during a performance by doo-wop band The Overtones.
Judge Jacqueline Linnane at the Circuit Civil Court also heard Arthur´s compensation claim for falls at work support by a colleague at the RTE studios, who claimed that the curtains had been an ongoing problem for a number of years. Arthur´s legal representative also advised the judge that Arthur still felt pain in his elbow two years after the injury had been sustained.
After hearing the evidence relating to Arthur´s fall at work compensation claim, Judge Jacqueline Linnane awarded Arthur 18,500 Euros in compensation.